Object Lesson

A friend of ours mentioned to us the other day that their son was first exposed to pornography by a friend on the bus to school using a smartphone. They were unaware of the exposure until a few years later they were talking about it as a family and he mentioned this small incident to them. He was in first grade at the time. I think we were as surprised to learn this as the parents. The truth is that pornography is no longer a secret thing engaged in by a few but a common practice/entertainment that is increasingly acceptable to many people. I know people who have become tangled in its snare and it has shown to be destructive to all who touch it. 

Jari and I have been wondering when we should start teaching our kids about its dangers. Apparently, first grade is that time so we have been brainstorming about how to teach our kids. Here was my first attempt. 

Week 1: Discussed using scripture that our bodies are special and sacred and should be kept clean and pure. 

Week 2:  I wanted the kids to see that God has given us commandments and prescribed a way of living that guarantees our happiness. I decided to liken it to a recipe for cookies that if followed will bring joy. Avoid porn - stay happy sort of deal.
 

Charlotte has been begging me for months now to let her make a treat of her own invention. She wanted no instruction. Cookies are easy to make yet even easier to mess up (at least that is the case for me) so I saw this as my chance to show her how important following a recipe can be. We made a cookie following a beloved recipe and let her do whatever she wanted.


Her ingredients: Cup of white flour, 2 eggs, soft butter ~1/4 cup, unknown number (3-4 suspected) Tablespoons of white sugar and about 3 Tablespoons of brown sugar, a dash of cinnamon and vanilla extract and chocolate chips.

When she was done mixing it looked like batter, not dough but we tossed it in the oven just the same. 


Here is her cookie vs mine. 


A blind taste test later showed the kids liked her cookie morethan than mine >:( 

So... to recap, don't follow any rules. Do whatever you want and trust that the outcome will turn out how you want it to. With the object lesson successfully lost, I left the actual lesson out.  So we are looking for new ideas. 

Comments

Tia Pete said…
This link is a great resource, and has a neat video to go along with it.
https://www.overcomingpornography.org/spouses-and-families/what-do-i-do?lang=eng